Browse Items (19 total)

This bonnet is covered in a rich brown silk and has matching ribbons. It has ten channels sewn into the deep brim, through which cane was run, around which the fabric is ruched or shirred. At the lower back is a small curtain called a bavolet that…

This hat is reddish-brown velvet with faded green ostrich feathers. Two glass rhinestone buckles are attached to the twisted velvet design. The lining is black and appears to be hand sewn.Velvet bonnets were popular and in the second half of the…

This is a woman’s bonnet consisting of a woven straw base with a shallow crown and narrow brim that has been folded up in the back. The straw base is covered in a weft-faced, camel/tan colored silk taffeta, multiple layers of black machine-made…

This dark green velvet bonnet is trimmed with blush pink flowers and buds above the brim. Framing the face is a woven trim of tan chenille yarns mixed with brown metallic yarns. A wide silk bow with picot edging sits atop the bonnet’s crown. The same…

This small top hat belonged to a woman or a child, because of its size. It is presumed to be a riding hat made of silk. The inside identifies the hat as manufactured by Knox of New York, and sold by Stove & Fisher, manufacturers and dealers of…

This artifact is classified as a tall, black, silk top hat; it has a ribbon band with a small bow. On the inside of the hat embossed on the blue silk lining we can see a logo for E.T. & S. Ryder hatters whose premises was located at 60 Fulton…

This hat is made of pink straw and is decorated with black velvet ribbons and two large black bird feathers that appear to be wings. The top of the hat features a large black velvet bow. According to Great Grandmothers Clothes: Women’s Fashion in the…

This black top hat is made out of beaver. Although top hats were also made from silk at this time, microscopic tests reveal that the fiber is indeed an animal hair fiber, not silk. According to "A Day at a Hat-Factory" published in The Penny Magazine…

This black velvet bonnet is decorated with a spray of feathers and covered wire at the top front. Interest also comes from the way the velvet has been folded over the bonnet's frame. Well worn, the accessory would have been held in place with velvet…

This bonnet is made from a dark red silk velvet with rose-colored, striped silk ribbon ties. It is trimmed with silk brocade ribbons, of a black ground with copper-colored designs, that are folded and pleated across the crown. The inside of the brim…